Hi, any advice on better Inverter option quoted below, split roof (Victoria)? Company Eko Energy, linked with Energy Australia.
5kW Solis 4G Inverter
OR
5kW Fronius Primo Inverter
with 20 x Q-Cells Q.Maxx 330W
Out of pocket cost for Fronius combo(I.e. minus govt rebates) ($6896)
OR
out of pocket for Solis combo ($5369).
Any advice ?
Thanks in advance
Mel
Hi Mel
Fronius is definitely a better inverter in my opinion, I also personally think it’s better value at $1500 difference.
Eko Energy has been around forever (in solar years), they were bought by Energy Australia a long time ago, but I’m not sure what their status is now. Seems ownership might have changed a couple times. Have you checked out their reviews, and compared to other companies? Have you got any other quotes?
Try our Solar Installers Melbourne page if not. Worth getting a couple of different quotes.
Cheers
Marty
Fronius is better in Australia only,the rest of the world got different opinion. Take the cheaper one as it all covered by 10 years warranty
The issue with relying on warranty is that there is significant cost in down time if a product fails, it’s hugely annoying to get anything fixed under warranty, and there are more costs involved than simply the replacement unit.
We are starting to see a lot of people ask about replacing their entire system because their inverter failed. If your inverter fails it’s not a simply case of swapping out the unit, the process is thoroughly annoying, it might mean an entire new system, which is very wasteful.
For an extra $1500 up front I think it’s worth the lower risk of an inverter failure.
In other countries the likes of Enphase, SolarEdge and SMA are highly valued also. If they were options I’d recommend those also.
Cheers
Marty
$1500 enough to buy two spare Solis inverters, In my experience down time is max a week. With Chinese manufactures I have replacement in 3 days. I do not know any problem with swapping inverters. Usually about one hour deal. Why would you need to replace whole system if inverter fail???
Huawei , Sungrow and SMA and others dominate world market, and no shortage of supply in Australia
Fronius is a phenomenon of Australian market
I don’t disagree with most of what you’re @Fedor_Torgovnikov. Fronius is definitely not the only game in town, and absolutely Sungrow and Huawei seem like very good inverters.
In answer to why people are buying whole new systems, it’s when their inverters are just out of warranty, and people are being quoted $2.5k + for a replacement. Inverter warranties are longer now than they used to be, and inverter quality is much much improved. I haven’t got a lot of personal insight into Solis to be honest, they do seem to be a decent option.
The reason I am wary is that I’ve been burnt a number of times, and seen many other people burnt, buying inverters that seem to be perfectly decent units, but then start dropping like flies a couple years down the track. Not always Chinese inverters mind you.
Anyway, good insight from you @Fedor_Torgovnikov, thanks.
Marty
Thank you Marty. We are swaying towards Fronius.
Appreciate your comments.